


piano keys and promises

by stonestars



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, piano lessons, y'all i wrote happy kravitz and angus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-04-05 13:32:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14045322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stonestars/pseuds/stonestars
Summary: “Hello, Angus,” Kravitz says in his unaccented voice. “Did you need something.”Angus stares at him for a second in silence, seeming to gather up the courage to say something. He bends forward in some semblance of a bow. “Can you teach me how to play an instrument?” he blurts out, so loudly that Taako pokes his head out of the kitchen to see what was going on.





	piano keys and promises

**Author's Note:**

  * For [exceed](https://archiveofourown.org/users/exceed/gifts).



> This is a birthday gift for the absolutely lovely Ink! Yo Ink, I have so much fun talking to you and I'm glad to have met you! Here's an attempt at appreciating you for how great you are.

“What’s on your mind, Agnes?” Taako asks one day as he cooks breakfast. Kravitz has gone off to work, and with both Taako and Lucas’s schools under construction still, Angus and Taako have found themselves at home alone together for many morning meals. 

Angus jumps a little when Taako says his name, turning from where he’d been looking out the window with a sheepish grin on his face. “S-sorry sir, I didn’t catch that.”

Taako exaggerates rolling his eyes, smiling as he slides an omelette onto Angus’s plate. “What’s got your head in the clouds, kiddo.” 

Angus flushes a little. “W… well sir,” he says. “It’s… it’s kind of… silly isn’t the right word but people might think it is--”

“Would  _ I  _ ever laugh at  _ you,  _ Ango,” Taako offers as he sits down across the table. 

Angus chooses to ignore the fact that yes, Taako  _ definitely _ would laugh at him. But maybe not for something that meant a lot to him. He takes a bite of his omelette before responding. “Johann told me he was going to teach me to play an instrument, sir, but then…” he trails off, not needing to say more. “I was thinking about maybe teaching myself one. I could play his songs, make sure he’d be remembered.” He flushes again, fidgeting with his fork. “It’s stupid, sir, I’m sorry.”

Taako takes a long sip of his coffee, giving Angus a moment before he responds. “Why don’t you ask death boy to teach you,” he says, half like he doesn’t care. 

“Kravitz, sir?”

“Yeah, he wanted to be a conductor,” Taako says, waving a hand vaguely. “Besides, haven’t you heard him playing?”

Now that he thought about it, Angus  _ had _ heard a flute or a piano on more than one occasion. “You don’t think he’d mind, sir?”

Taako smiles. Kravitz loves music, loves Angus, and there’s no way this could go wrong. “Nah, he wouldn’t mind at all.”

-

Kravitz is reading in his and Taako’s living room when Angus comes in. 

The young detective looks towards the kitchen, where Taako is, before coming to stand in front of Kravitz. “H-hello, sir.”

Kravitz looks up from his book, a small smile crossing his face as he sees Angus. “Hello, Angus,” Kravitz says in his unaccented voice. “Did you need something.”

Angus stares at him for a second in silence, seeming to gather up the courage to say something. He bends forward in some semblance of a bow. “Can you teach me how to play an instrument?” he blurts out, so loudly that Taako pokes his head out of the kitchen to see what was going on. Kravitz meets Taako’s eyes over Angus’s bowed head, and Taako, seeing this, gives him a thumbs up and disappears back into the kitchen.

He figures Taako must’ve told Angus about his musical tendencies, or maybe Angus just deduced it. It wouldn’t be too hard to figure it out; Kravitz does not try to keep the piano and selection of other instruments that live in their basement-turned-Kravtiz’s-studio secret. And Angus stays with them enough that he’s sure that the young detective has heard him play music at least once. 

Kravitz sets his book aside, smiling warmly at the young boy in front of him. He’s not sure why Angus looks so nervous. He thinks to his collection of instruments. “Of course, Angus,” he says, “any instrument in particular?”

Angus stares at him, wide-eyed, like he hadn’t expected him to say yes. Then, with an energy that makes Kravitz himself smile, his face lights up. “Th-thank you sir! I did a lot of research and at first I was thinking a violin but apparently it’s hard to learn at first and you need to be good with the mechanics so I looked at a harp and that one seemed easier but maybe it’s not the best option for a small boy like me and so I--”

Kravitz can’t help but stifle a laugh as he puts a hand on Angus’s shoulder, making him pause. “Okay, slow down Angus,” he says, his voice full of the smile he is not bothering to hide. “How about we start with a piano, and we’ll go from there?”

Angus beams again. “That would be great, sir.” He looks down the hallway to where the stairs leading into the basement are. “When can we start?” he asks, rocking forward on the balls of his feet a little.

Taako pokes his head out of the kitchen again. “Dinner in 10, boys,” he calls. 

Kravitz winks at Angus. “Can’t keep Taako waiting, now can we?” he asks. “We’ll start after dinner, don’t you worry.”

Angus nods enthusiastically, running towards the kitchen to help Taako carry food to the table.

-

When Taako shoos the two of them out of the kitchen after dinner with a “no no, I’ll clean up, you kids have fun,” and a wink in Kravitz's direction, Kravitz is pretty sure Taako had suggested this. 

Angus hesitates when Kravitz opens the door leading to the basement. “You’re sure, sir?”

Kravitz does his best to smile reassuringly. “Yeah,” he says. “It’ll be fun.”

Angus smiles again. “Okay, sir,” he says. Kravitz follows him down the stairs, flicking on the light as he goes.

He nearly runs into Angus at the bottom of the stairs, the young boy staring wide-eyed at the room in front of him.

There’s a large grand piano in the middle of the room-- how Taako got it down here, Kravitz stillhas no idea. The floor and walls are a light wood, one that Magnus picked out, apparently. Said it was the best for sound quality. Against one wall there’s a bookshelf full of music, another wall is home to an impressive collection of musical instruments, mounted to the wall or sitting on shelves. 

It’s one of Kravitz’s favorite places to spend his off days. He smiles, walking past Angus and gesturing for him to follow.

“How’d you get all this down here?” Angus asks as he follows Kravitz over to the piano bench.

“I don’t know,” Kravitz answers as he pulls the bench out. “Ask Taako.”

As Kravitz sits down on the left end of the bench, Angus climbs up onto the right side with a wide-eyed grin. “ _ Taako  _ got it down here? I wonder what spell he used.”

Kravitz chuckles. “Ask him later, buddy,” he says. He gestures to the piano in front of them, the lid still down over the keys. “Ready?”

“Oh, yes sir,” Angus says. “I did a lot of reading about pianos when I was researching what instrument I might want to play…” he trails off, watching and Kravitz pushes the lid up and runs a finger lightly over the white keys of the piano. He seems mesmerized, but only for a second, as Kravitz puts his hand back in his lap and Angus’s attention returns to the keyboard in front of him and his train of thought from before. “So I know a little bit about it.” He points to a key, his finger resting lightly enough against it to not make a sound. “This is middle C, right?”

Kravitz nods, and pushes Angus’s finger down with his own. The note rings out through the space, Kravitz really does love the sound of this piano. 

Angus grins. “And this is a C major chord, sir?” he asks, more confident as he plays the notes. 

“You’ve got it,” Kravitz says. He smiles, crosses his arms, and fakes seriousness. “Am I teaching you or are you teaching me?”

Angus’s eyes go wide for an instant and he starts to say “s-sorry, sir” before Kravitz breaks into a grin again. Angus relaxes. “Will you play something for me?” he asks. 

Kravitz looks down at the keyboard in front of him, and then back up at Angus. “I thought I was supposed to be teaching you, Angus,” he offers, sitting back.

“Yes sir, but I can learn a lot from watching you play, like… like how you hold your hands or the way you sit or… or…”

It’s not like he can just say no to Angus, not when he’s so eager. The light in his eyes reminds Kravitz just how much Angus hungers to learn, to experience new things. It’s been a long time since he’s had a student. “I’ll play for you,” Kravitz says, “on one condition.”

Angus beams. “Anything, sir.”

“You play for me in the future.” 

Angus doesn’t need even a second to think about it. He nods happily, moving over to let Kravitz sit in the middle of the bench. 

Kravitz moves over, closes his eyes, and begins to play.

\--

The whole time Kravitz is playing, Angus is watching the way Kravitz’s hands move, the contented smile that sits across his face, the way his feet move, how he sways into the flow of the music while he plays. He’s still amazed by Kravitz, who once scared him but now just makes him want to learn more about death and the world and the Raven Queen but mostly just about Kravitz himself. Kravitz has always treated him kindly, has always been patient and provided a sense of quiet in a household too often dominated by Taako’s eccentric energy. But he’s never really spent time with Kravitz, and he realizes now, as he watches Kravitz sway to the song and thinks back to what Taako told him the other morning, that he doesn’t know very much about him, not really. He also realizes, however, that he wishes he  _ did  _ know more about Kravitz. 

While he plays, Kravitz thinks about Taako. Or, he starts by thinking about Taako. But it doesn’t take long for his mind to drift to Angus. Angus, who didn’t seem bothered by the fact that Death slept in the bedroom down the hall, who would always glance at the book Kravitz was reading and grin when it was a book he had read before, or, if it wasn’t, sometimes Kravitz would see him with the same book not a week later. He thinks about Angus, sitting next to him and staring at him with amazement, who is somehow making him feel alive in a way not unlike the way Taako does, but not quite the same either, and he smiles. Because does not have a family in the traditional sense, but he imagines that having Angus is what it would be like to have a little brother. 

When Kravitz finishes the song, he pauses with his hands hovering over the last notes, his eyes still closed. For a moment, everything is quiet. And then, the moment passes. Angus claps rapidly, his eyes wide.

“That was amazing, sir!” Angus exclaims, looking down at the piano in front of them and then back up to Kravitz. 

Kravitz smiles. “Thanks, Angus,” he says, ruffling the boy detective’s hair ever so slightly. He winks. “Now I’ve just got to teach you to play, huh?”

Angus stares. “You think I can play like that one day, sir?”

“I do,” Kravitz says, patting Angus on the shoulder. “I’m sure you will.”

-

> _ Three years later; _
> 
> _ Kravitz and Taako’s friends and family are gathered at a large church, decorated in a style that can only be described as Taako’s. Lup is helping Taako get ready, Barry is helping Kravitz. Merle is already standing on the altar, ready to officiate the wedding. Magnus and Ren are with him, they’re both members of the wedding party and are waiting for Barry and Lup. Near the altar, a white grand piano is set up. _
> 
> _ There’s chatter throughout the church, and the atmosphere is warm like the spring day outside. _
> 
> _ Someone plays a chord, the chatter stops, and Barry and Lup say goodbye to their respective grooms-to be and make their way onto the altar.  _
> 
> _ Another chord plays, and it’s Kravitz’s turn to make an entrance.  _
> 
> _ He starts down the aisle, looking around the room at all of the people he has come to care about in a way he never thought he would, and smiles at Angus, who is playing the piano. _


End file.
